The Sexual Superhighway Revisited

Kim Engler (1) , Louis-Robert Frigault (2) , Alain Al Léobon (3) , Joseph Lévy (2)

1 MCGill University Health Centre
2 UQAM - Université du Québec à Montréal = University of Québec in Montréal
3 ESO - Espaces et Sociétés

Among gay men, serious health risks (unsafe sex, compulsivity) are associated with seeking sex on the Internet. To better understand the repercussions of this activity from a user's perspective, qualitative interviews with 22 gay men reporting Internet use for sexual purposes were submitted to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The repercussions perceived clustered around themes of sociability (making contact and meeting consequences), sexuality (discovering and deviating), identity (becoming and concealing), and dependency. Findings may help improve the relevance and appeal of online interventions with gay men and sensitize professionals to health issues not traditionally reported in the scientific and clinical literature on gay men and Internet use.

Mots clés: Internet; Gay; MSM; HIV RISK; HIV AIDS; QUALITATIVE

Domaines: Sociologie

Kim Engler, Louis-Robert Frigault, Alain Al Léobon, Joseph Lévy. The Sexual Superhighway Revisited: A Qualitative Analysis of Gay Men's Perceived Repercussions of Connecting in Cyberspace. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 2008, 18 (2), pp.3-37. ⟨10.1300/J041v18n02_02⟩. ⟨halshs-03176716⟩